on the back and said, “Remember that when she’s up all night with colic.”
Derek looked down at baby Evan, fast asleep in his arms, and said, “Your lives are never going to be the same.”
“They’re going to be better,” Ben reassured them.
Harley looked at his mother, who was standing beside Piper’s chair, gazing down at the baby, and said, “I wish Dad were alive to meet her.”
“He’s here, honey,” his mother said. “Can’t you feel his presence?”
Tears stung Harley’s eyes again. He swore that he’d gotten an extra dose of hormones with Piper’s pregnancy.
“Have you thought of a name yet?” Willow asked.
They’d tossed around a number of names over the months. Harper, Delilah, and Lara were their three favorite names for a girl, but they’d wanted to wait until they met their baby to decide.
Harley looked at his brave, beautiful better half and said, “Pipe? What do you think?”
She caressed their baby’s cheek and said, “What do you think about Frankie, after your father?”
“Frankie,” he said, choked up again. “That’s perfect.”
“Frankie Dalton Dutch?” Piper asked, and in the next breath, tears sprang from her eyes, and she frowned.
Harley crouched beside her. “What’s wrong?”
“I made a really big mistake. A huge one,” she said in a strangled voice, tears streaking her cheeks.
“What do you mean?” His gut seized. “I don’t understand.”
“She’s just overwhelmed,” his mother said anxiously.
Roxie hurried over with Willow, Talia, and Bridgette, crowding in on them.
“Having a baby makes your hormones go crazy. That’s all this is, honey,” Roxie reassured her.
“You’re going to be a great mother,” Willow reassured her.
“And we’ll all help you,” Talia added, glancing at Evan, fast asleep in Derek’s arms. “I know lots of tricks of the trade.”
“We’ll make sure to babysit often, so you can catch up on your sleep, pumpkin,” Dan said. “You’ll be fine.”
“Have you all lost your minds?” Piper cried. “I’m not worried about being a good mother! I don’t want to be a Dalton while my baby and husband are Dutches! I want to be a Dutch. I’m proud to be Harley’s permanent other half, and I know he’s not going to try to change me! He doesn’t have to. Frankie already has.”
Harley couldn’t breathe, couldn’t believe his ears.
“Do you think I want our daughter having to explain why her parents don’t have the same last name?” Piper gazed down at their daughter. Then she looked at her family and said, “That would suck, and sure, it would make her tougher, but what if she’s a girlie girl like Bridgette? Kids will just pick on her, and then Louie, Evan, and Christopher are going to have to kick some little kids’ asses, which will only make Bridgette and Bodhi, Talia and Derek, and Ben and Aurelia hate me. I can’t do that to our baby.” She looked at Harley with red-rimmed eyes and said, “Will you marry me, Harley?”
He couldn’t stop an elated, relieved laugh from bubbling out. “Do you think we should wait until your pregnancy hormones level out, so you don’t change your mind in a month and blame me for trying to change you?”
Piper’s brows knitted, and she pressed her mouth into a tight line.
“Oh shit,” Ben muttered.
“Bad move, bro,” Marshall added.
Roxie nudged Harley and said, “Take it back, quick.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Piper said before he could get a word out. “Maybe we shouldn’t do it. Oh wait,” she said sarcastically. “That would be the dumbest idea ever.” She touched his face, her eyes turning warm and loving again as she said, “But hearing you say that proves how much you love me, so I’ll ask you again and again until you say yes.”
“How about if you let me do it this time?” He took a velvet bag from his pocket and withdrew the white-gold diamond eternity band he’d had made for her.
There was a collective gasp as he squared his shoulders, already down on one knee, and said, “This is an eternity band and was not supposed to be an engagement ring. I want to make it very clear that I had not planned to ask you to marry me.”
Chuckles sounded around them.
“I had it made as a thank-you gift for you, for selflessly enduring nine long months, many of which were without doughnuts, to bring us our beautiful daughter. But it’ll work as an engagement ring. Piper, my love, my best friend, and my forever girl, will you marry me?”
“Yes! Yes today, yes tomorrow, and yes forever.”
Everyone cheered and clapped as he slid the ring onto her finger.
He gazed deeply into her eyes and said, “I love you, and I promise I will make you and Frankie the happiest people on earth.”
“You already have.” Tears slipped down Piper’s cheeks. Their daughter yawned, and Piper glowed as she gazed down at her. Then she turned loving eyes on Harley and said, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For opening my eyes to everything love is supposed to be and more.”